PaulBa Loc: Cardiff, Wales

After an unsatisfactory Saturday photographing water drops I though I would spend Sunday morning bug hunting in the garden. As the bees were out doing whatever bees do amongst the flowers. I settled down and waited for a bee to visit a selected plant on which I had already practised a number of shots. Eventually a bee landed on my chosen flower so i sprang into action............ However, the weight of the bee caused the stalk to swing from it'™s initial position and I was unable to find it in my viewer. I can hear you now "practise practise practise" sadly some of us are are enthusiasm rich and time poor as far as our favourite hobby goes so that mantra is difficult to follow.

So not to spoil my day I found a 6mm bug hanging from a leaf on my tree which was ideal for focus stacking. As advised by LoneRangeFinder I reduced my aperture increasing the number of slices accordingly. I also downloaded Helicon Focus and ran the files through both Zerene and Helicon. My initial view was that the Helicon output was better as well as it interface appeared slicker than Zerene. I now have 30 days to play with Helicon before deciding to part with my money or not.

I'™ve attached the stacked images from Helicon and Zerene, no retouching.

I'™ve also attached my favourite shot from yesterday'™s waterdrop session although it's been heavily cropped to get it '"macro'" (happy to remove it if it'™s bending the rules a little too far).

Helicon

(Download)

Zerene

(Download)


(Download)

sippyjug104 Loc: Missouri

Very, very nice. I really like the capture of the splash. I agree with you that the Helicon version is a bit more rich in its color and contrast but aside from that, they are pretty close to each other. Although very well taken, I don't know what the subject is, but I doubt that it would win a beauty contest.

Cwilson341 Loc: Central Florida

Stacking is certainly challenging but also a lot of fun to work with. I don't necessarily agree that the Helicon output is preferable to the Zerene version. If you look closely, the Zerene shot is much cleaner around the edges and needs very little clean up. I think a little pp (contrast, exposure and maybe vibrance) would make it really pop. The Helicon has edge haloing that would be easy to correct in Zerene but I'm not sure about the editing tools in Helicon.

kpmac Loc: Ragley, La

Nicely done. Stacking will be my next endeavor once I feel comfortable taking decent macros.

rwilson1942 Loc: Houston, TX

Mark Sturtevant Loc: Grand Blanc, MI

Excellent work!

tinusbum Loc: east texas

love the drop,the other is a dead caterpillar that was parasitized by wasps

PaulBa Loc: Cardiff, Wales

Thanks for the kind words sippyjug104,

PaulBa Loc: Cardiff, Wales

Thanks for commenting cwilson341, I won’t disagree with you on Zerene as one stack and a brief viewing is hardly sufficient to make a considered comparison.

PaulBa Loc: Cardiff, Wales

Thanks kpmac, give it a go, but beware it can become all consuming.

PaulBa Loc: Cardiff, Wales

Thanks for the kind words and thumbs up Rick and Mark

PaulBa Loc: Cardiff, Wales

Thanks tinusbum and for the identification.

EnglishBrenda Loc: Kent, England

You should be smiling too because you have done well again. I love the water drop, and I think I prefer the Zerene shot. There seems to be a difference in the pp work between the two which confuses the issue but Zerene is considered to be good software but you have time to experiment.

PaulBa Loc: Cardiff, Wales

Thanks for the kind words Brenda, I’m enjoying the water drop photography just wish I had more time to pursue it.

Now I need to find time do a considered comparison between Zerene and Helicon, Zerene has it at the moment as I’ve already paid for it :-)).

Not sure if I want to shell out another £100 or so unless the advantages are substantial although in the grand scale of photographic expenses £100 is not a fortune.